At precisely a run ball, Ben Duckett recorded his first and fifth Test hundreds. After 28 innings, Zak Crawley achieved his first Test century since July 2023. Together, they were part of England’s best home opening stand since 1960. England recorded the most runs on the opening day of a Test match in England, and Ollie Pope provided the finishing touches with his third hundred in as many Test matches at Trent Bridge and eighth against as many different oppositions. If that sounds like total control, it was.
For Zimbabwe’s XI, who had never played a Test match in England and many of whom will not recall their team’s last visit 22 years prior, it was likewise a harsh welcome. The warning flags were evident following Zimbabwe’s defeat by a Professional County Club Select XI the previous week, but a brutal opening day exposed the full extent of the gap between them and those who play Tests more frequently.
Zimbabwe’s four-seam, single-spinner assault battled for consistency and was hampered by the loss of one of its cogs for the majority of the day after Craig Ervine decided to bowl first in overcast conditions. Ten minutes into the second session, opening bowler Richard Ngarava exited the pitch due to what was subsequently determined to be a back spasm. An hour and five minutes into the third, he made a cautious comeback. After a few minutes of fielding, he returned to the dressing room, limiting his work for the day to nine overs in the morning.
Leading seamen A blessing Sikandar Raza bowled 24 overs and Muzarabani, the most dangerous of the quicks, bowled 20 overs, but little Zimbabwe made an effort to harm England. Although the 5.66 scoring rate would only imply the latter, the hosts’ top order batted with the ideal balance of caution and aggression.
Duckett and Crawley were cautious at first, as only 19 runs were scored in the first six overs.
For Zimbabwe, however, that was as good as it got because boundaries were established soon after and on a regular basis. After Crawley made his presence known with a thunderous drive through the covers, Duckett attacked Muzarabani from both the front and rear. Ervine made his first alteration after ten overs, bringing in Tanaka Chivanga, whose opening over cost twelve.
Duckett had a nervous moment when he miscued a drive into the off side, but no fielder was near enough to try a catch. Chivanga was the only player to find some swing. To reach fifty from forty-seven balls, Duckett smashed the next ball over the slips and to the boundary. England headed to lunch on 130 for 0 after Crawley reached his fifty in the opening over, when he blasted the ball past square leg and ran a comfortable two.
After the interval, Nyauchi thought he had found Duckett’s edge from around the wicket, giving Zimbabwe the impression that they had some luck. A flick of his sweater turned out to be the cause. Duckett got into the 80s at the end of that over after edging Nyauchi between wide slip and gully. After cutting Raza with a reverse sweep to get into the 90s, he worked him square for a single to reach his century.
Nevertheless, Zimbabwe’s aspirations to have Duckett return were maintained. He gave Nyauchi a return chance on 104, but the ball missed. Duckett then accelerated to full speed. He appeared unstoppable as he pushed Chivanga over deep backward square and cut him over cover point for the match’s opening six. Wessly Madhevere was sent on after Duckett reached 130 and Zimbabwe was virtually out of alternatives. He smashed for four through the covers and then fired over midwicket for six. Duckett could not believe what he had done when, against the flow of play, he smacked Madhevere’s next ball straight to Ben Curran at cover. As Zimbabwe celebrated their first grins of the day, he trudged away, only to glance up and see Pope.
Pope struck six fours in the first 18 balls he faced, a preview of what was to come. Pope was on 49 off 46 balls at tea time. Crawley had worked his way up to 93, happy as the supporting act.
When Crawley got a leading edge from Nyauchi and hit the single that put him in three figures, Pope had already reached 61 after reaching his fifty two balls into the third session. His placid celebration may stifle criticism before more serious difficulties came, and it seemed to imply relaxation rather than joy. Before missing a sweep against Raza, he scored 24 more runs before being dismissed leg before wicket. Replays revealed that it was striking the leg stump, but Crawley reviewed.
Pope’s charge persisted unabated, using a variety of strokes across the ground before his hundred made a cut. He has scored a century against eight different opponents. As Joe Root became the fifth player to reach 13,000 Test runs, the milestones continued to roll in, maybe making Zimbabwe ecstatic.
As soon as the second fresh ball was available, they took it, which only increased England’s scoring chances. Pope smashed two more fours off a tired Muzarabani’s 17th over (and made sure he gave up 100) to reach 150 after Root hit the opening delivery for four. To make matters worse, he assisted an inswinger from Nyauchi over the fine leg, meaning that England had scored 22 runs off seven deliveries. But things did not always go their way. When Muzarabani hit a surprise bouncer and Root top-edged to Sean Williams at fine leg, he finally received some compensation.
Pope and Harry Brook batted out the remainder of the day to end two shy of 500, but it was Zimbabwe’s only reward. Pope scored 169 from 163 balls and was undefeated.
India
